


Change in Administration

by Hornswaggler



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drug replase, Gen, Institute Ending, Justin Ayo is terrible, Reforming the Institute for Fun and Profit, X6 has emotions he's just bad at them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:29:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9179662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hornswaggler/pseuds/Hornswaggler
Summary: Thomas is doing better.With most threats gone, new medication to help his multitude of mental health issues, and a permanent Courser bodyguard, things could be a lot worse.He still thinks literally anyone else would have been a better pick to head the Institute. A lot of the Institute thinks the same.Eventually to be a collection of shorts about Director Thomas Valker and his attempts at running what's now the most powerful faction in the Commonwealth. He does, in a word, his best.





	1. relapse

**Author's Note:**

> That last tag was inspired by the lovely nomette, who is one of the very few others I've seen writing an Institute ending. Her own story with the same tag is phenomenal and should definitely be read.
> 
> I do love to write about all of my Suvivors. The others might not get a full series like Carly, but I love all of them, so
> 
> The order of these may vary. Thomas has a plethora of issues. X6 is working through his own. It's fun.

It was lucky for the both of them that the Director was so light.

X6 was used to toting around dead weight for whatever reason -- not that Thomas was entirely dead weight right now, but he definitely wasn’t being any kind of helpful. He had one arm pulled around X6’s shoulders and could almost keep his feet underneath himself, but most of the credit for his being any kind of upright went to the Courser who was diligently pulling him out of the teleporter room.

“Tellin’ ya,” Thomas mumbled, “‘m fine, nothin’ wrong…”

It took all of his significant self control for X6 to keep from rolling his eyes. They were back in the Institute now, back under the constant watch that was just inherent with an underground research facility, and he had to be sure to keep all reactions and expressions well away from his face in here.

Still, there was no one in the immediate area, so it felt safe to reply, quietly.

“With all due respect, sir,” he said, adjusting Thomas’s weight a little as they got into the elevator, “that is a load of shit.”

Thomas made a sound that was probably meant to be a laugh. His forehead fell to rest on X6’s shoulder and there was soft incoherent muttering that X6 didn’t bother trying to decipher.

There was the expected immediate concern when they got down to the central hub. Some of the looks of worry shifted to confusion, but none of that was relevant to the current goal of getting Thomas into the infirmary. Some people looked like they were about to try and help, but the relentless path X6 cut made them step back hastily.

He almost made it without Ayo noticing.

Almost.

Volkert was in sight when Ayo swooped in, already swelled up like he was ready to give the speech of a lifetime. It was only then that X6 remembered he was still wearing the (now heavily bloodstained) jeans and t-shirt that Thomas had insisted he try on after finding them on a surprisingly intact mannequin. A far cry from the mandated black of the Courser uniform.

X6 could see the moment Ayo noticed the still-muttering form of Thomas now being entirely held off the ground. There was a brief war of priorities behind the older man’s eyes, and then he apparently decided that the half-conscious Director was a little more important.

“Full report, unit,” Ayo snapped. “What happened?”

According to Ayo, Coursers were not able to like or dislike anything.

According to Thomas, it was that opinion that made X6 dislike Ayo in the first place.

X6 hated to argue with the Director.

“I would like to get Director Valker medical attention before answering further questions,” he replied steadily. He could see Ayo’s surprise in his peripheral and ignored it, nodding once at Volkert as the doctor hurried forward to help heft Thomas onto the small bed in the corner. “You’ll want to flush his system; it seems the Director’s medication does not pair well with other drugs.”

“What drugs?” Volkert asked, pulling up Thomas’s eyelid to shine a small light into the pupil. When X6 hesitated he let out a huff of air. “I need to know to treat it properly.”

It wasn’t like Thomas could really protest, even though X6 knew he wouldn’t want someone like Ayo to hear about the incident. Still, it was medically relevant, and it felt like things would be worse if he withheld the information. After a few beats, X6 resisted glancing over at Ayo as he answered: “Psycho.”

The reaction was expected. Ayo scoffed, pacing a few steps away and Volkert closed his eyes a moment before he nodded.

“Shouldn’t be anything too serious,” Volkert said, bustling around his work station and pulling out a few IV bags and clean needles. “He’ll have a hell of a hangover, though.”

X6 stood by silently, watching the doctor work, well aware that Ayo wasn’t the only person lingering now. It was still Ayo that approached him after a few minutes, and the look on his face was one X6 knew well.

“You never did answer my question,” Ayo said. “What the hell happened out there? And _what_ are you wearing?”

It was not a conversation he wanted to have. He could practically hear Thomas telling him how that meant he didn’t have to have it, but the conditioning was hard to break.

“I believe they were souvenirs before the War,” X6 said evenly. “The Director suggested I wear them to blend in more effectively.”

Thomas had said that as a joke, but Ayo didn’t need to know that.

“Right,” the man grunted. He didn’t sound convinced. “And the rest?”

“There was an encampment of mercenaries, most likely a branch of the group that call themselves Gunners.” He almost shrugged. Coursers don’t shrug. “They attacked and we successfully destroyed the camp.”

Ayo threw his hands out, and X6 let himself feel a little satisfied that he could still frustrate the director while still technically doing what he said. “We got him off the Psycho when he got here.”

“We did,” X6 agreed. “The Director has a higher tendency to relapse while under significant stress.”

“There shouldn’t be significant stress. That’s why he brings you in the first place.”

X6 didn’t think it was necessary to explain the whole thing. He also knew Ayo wouldn’t back off until he did, and right now the desire to get the man to leave was stronger than the one to annoy him.

It took a little effort for X6 to make sure his expression was still as blank as ever when he turned, hands folded behind his back, to look Ayo in the eye. The Coursers as a whole tended to be taller than almost all of the scientists, and that was a small satisfaction now.

“The Gunners had separate encampments on remaining pieces of an old highway,” he said. “Director Valker and I were separated in the middle of the combat, and I had to take care of one of their repurposed Assaultrons before returning to him.” He nodded back at Thomas curtly. “You’ll notice that apart from the side-effects of the drugs, the Director suffered very few ill effects of the fight. He can hold his own.”

“That isn’t the point,” Ayo growled. “If he did as much while using combat-enhancing drugs, which you should never have let him get a hold of in the first place, I might add --”

“According to you, sir,” X6 cut in, “I am in no position to let or not let the Director do anything.”

That got the start of a stammered protest, but Ayo seemed to realize a second later that there was no good way to argue the point. Either he admit that X6 wasn’t at fault, or consider the unthinkable idea that Coursers had the right to question anything the Director did.

“We ought to check your programming,” Ayo muttered instead, his eyes narrowed. “With everything that’s happened lately, your line might be overdue for a reboot.”

X6 felt his hands clench for a moment before he forced them to relax again. He kept his eyes on a point just to the left of Ayo’s head, grateful that the sunglasses hid it effectively. Coursers knew better than anyone the process of a “reboot”, as Ayo liked to call them, simply because they had brought in so many synths over the years to undergo one.

Too emotional. Too free-thinking. Asked too many questions. All very valid reasons to be taken to the chair down in SRB.

Every once in a while there were times when X6 could feel phantom pains down his back, around his neck, that he knew he had ever actually experienced -- or, rather, that this particular personality download had never experienced -- that told him enough to know that he wanted to avoid that chair as long as possible.

The Courser training was useful in that regard; he could keep his expression a blank slate even in the middle of combat, keep all body language stamped down to reveal nothing but an aura of intimidation.

Coursers were peak of Institute technology. They did not fear. They did not feel. They did not argue.

Thomas, on the other hand, argued about practically everything.

“No one needs a damn reboot,” Thomas said suddenly, and they both looked over, Ayo actually showing some surprise. “Every single time anyone does something you don’t agree with, you think they need to be reprogrammed or something, honestly…” Volkert had removed the heavy armored coat and put in multiple IV lines, which Thomas was scratching at absently with one hand while using the other to rub his eyes. It wasn’t clear what the IVs were putting into him, but it seemed to have made him at least a little more coherent.

“I’m not saying --” Ayo hesitated, glancing back at the small crowd gathered nearby as if he might find someone to back him up. “I’m only suggesting, sir, that it could be worth checking.”

Thomas waved one hand dismissively. “It’s not. I’m screwed up right now because of what I did. If X6 hadn’t been there, I’d probably be dead. He’s not going anywhere near that damn chair.” He looked over at the crowd himself and grimaced. “X6, could you…?”

The synths scattered first under the Courser’s sharp look. There was a little hesitation before the rest of the scientists left as well, but it only took a moment for Ayo to be the only one left.

He kept quiet at first, watching Volkert check the readouts on various small screens. There was some sense of wariness which was expected in some ways; no one was entirely sure how Thomas handled being in charge of the whole Institute, and there was still a lot of caution dealing with him.

Not that it usually lasted long for Ayo.

“Is this something we should address?” Ayo asked eventually. “The Psycho was a problem when you first came in, but we cleared your system.”

Thomas gave a weak laugh. “Right, yeah, but here’s the thing…” He shifted, leaning his arms on his knees, careful not to jostle any of the IV lines. “I was an addict before I set foot in that damn cryo pod. The drugs may have changed, but the rest is...y’know, we really should have a psychiatrist here. How does the ‘Wealth’s best source of knowledge not have one person who’s studied psychiatry?”

“Sir, that’s not --”

“I mean honestly, like sure you can cook up all the medication and everything, but that only goes so far. Need to look into that.” Thomas paused, then looked back up at Ayo, his grin a little crooked. “Hey, so you might know, thought of something on the road.”

So maybe he still wasn’t thinking entirely logically. X6 took half a step forward before stopping himself; he remembered the laughing comments, had a pretty good idea where this was going. “Sir, I don’t think now is the time.”

“Nah, perfect timing, I just gotta wonder…” Thomas gestured at X6 vaguely. “Was it like...intentional that all of the Coursers are gorgeous, or is that just coincidence?”

X6 let his eyes close behind his glasses, the closest he got to a grimace most of the time. Ayo still looked dumbfounded by the time they opened again, and he turned away a second later, striding back toward the SRB with just a snapped, “Get back in uniform,” at X6 as he went.

The grin dropped off Thomas’s face soon after that and he ran a hand back through his hair with a heavy sigh. Volkert looked like he was holding back an amused look of his own, his eyes firmly on his work, and after a moment X6 moved forward to stand at the end of the bed. He didn’t lean against it -- Coursers didn’t lean -- but he let himself lift a curious eyebrow in Thomas’s direction.

“I mean it got him out, didn’t it?” Thomas pointed out. “I’ll deal with it later, I just don’t need any more headaches at this point.”

“You have always had an unconventional approach to handling the Directorate,” X6 said. “But as I said, I’m not one to argue with your methods.”

Thomas snorted. “You argue plenty. You just never make it seem like arguing.”

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong there. X6 kept his eyes on Volkert, waiting until the doctor was across the room before he let a very small part of the stony expression fall away as he stepped a little closer.

“Thank you, sir.”

“For what?” Thomas asked, something of the grin back. “The compliment? Because I mean it’s not really a lie, and I’ve been around plenty of you guys.”

X6 shook his head once. “Not that. But it would have been...challenging to continue as an effective guard if I had to relearn all of your reckless habits.”

Thomas considered him carefully, even though his eyes were still somewhat unfocused and there was something careful in the way he was holding himself, like he was worried he’d tip forward. “Like I said,” he said eventually, his voice low, “you’re not going anywhere near that damn chair. Not as long as I’m in charge.”

Even if they hadn’t been in the Institute, even if X6 had the small amount of leeway he gave himself when they were out on the surface, he would have no idea how to respond to that. It was lucky that there wasn’t any response expected.

“So,” Thomas said after a minute, leaning back again and resting his head on the wall behind him, “how much you think this is gonna damage what little reputation I have?”

“I don’t imagine it’ll help,” Volkert spoke up, filling up a syringe as he turned back to them. “You may want to get an official statement before the rumors start spreading.”

Thomas nodded wearily. He eyed the needle and then looked up at Volkert. “Knockin’ me out, Doc?”

“You’ll thank me later, it’ll be a hell of a lot easier this way.”

There wasn’t even a slight flinch when the needle went in. Not that he was unfamiliar with them, of course. It didn’t take the drug long to take effect and Volkert helped Thomas lie back before he somehow managed to fall off the bed.

“X6.” There was definitely a slur in his voice again.

“Sir?”

“I ever manage to get a hold of that crap again...you have explicit orders to rip it out of my hands.”

Volkert wasn’t looking. X6 was facing the wall, where he knew there weren’t any cameras. He let himself grin.

“Yes, sir.”


	2. random acts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These won't be in any particular order, I assume, nor will they be posted with any kind of consistent timing. Every once in a while I just get feelings.  
> This one happens to be short, but it sets up a lot for future things which I may or may not actually write ??  
> so yeah

It was the first time he’d pulled rank.

The Directorate hadn’t _technically_ objected -- at least, not out loud. Granted, there had been far fewer issues since the SRB had been assigned a full-time director; after all, that many years with just an acting director, courtesy of Dr. Ayo, was certainly long enough to wait before admitting that Dr. Zimmer wasn’t coming back.

If the new head of the SRB, Dr. Sanchez (and honestly, was _everyone_ in the building a doctor?), also happened to agree with Thomas’s views on how it should be run, that was purely coincidence.

If the new head of the SRB decided that the program needed drastic alterations, well, who was Thomas to tell her she was wrong?

(“The Director of the damn Institute,” he thought he heard Li mutter once, and she did sort of have a point.)

When, months later, it came to dismantling the one major thing that made that department a place the synths skirted around, that made it a hushed threat rather than an actual benefit to the Institute as a whole, that took some pushing. That much took pulling the, “I’m the Director of the damn Institute,” card in the middle of Directorate meeting.

So it happened. There was some grumbling, and Thomas knew he’d have to claw his way back from the drop in popularity that would inevitably come around because of it. But it got done, under his very pointed supervision from the observation deck set above the room (and the fact that they had an observation deck at all just made the process all the more satisfying).

He’d been missing his usual shadow that day, but that had been a very pointed decision. It had also taken a lot of reasoning, and finally a direct order, which he generally avoided giving if it could be helped, to get X6 to take a short job on the surface.

They both knew it was specifically to get X6 away for a while. Meeting with a few Minutemen patrols didn’t take a Courser, let alone the Director’s personal bodyguard. Hell, it might be a little counterintuitive, since most people around the ‘Wealth still had a very healthy fear of Coursers.

Might need to do a little damage control there later. That was a problem for another day.

When X6 came into the office, he still had the thin layer of dust that everyone picked up after spending any time on the surface. It was a little touching that he’d apparently put aside getting the “contaminants” off in favor of making sure Thomas hadn’t somehow abruptly died in the past eight hours.

“I feel I should remind you, sir,” X6 noted by way of greeting, “that you did assign specific parties to interact with the militia’s leaders.”

Thomas had to hold back a snort, pushing his chair out and swiveling it enough to see X6 properly. “Yeah, I know. Figured you could use the fresh air.”

There was something close to disdain on the Courser’s face for a split second. “I wouldn’t call anything above ground...fresh.”

“Alright, fair.” The piece of metal felt heavier than it should in his pocket when Thomas stood. “How did it go?”

X6 shifted his weight marginally in his version of a shrug. “Private Kayton had nothing significant to report. The bridge to the west of Bunker Hill took marginal damage when one of the vehicles’ cores failed. He has the impression the stability wasn’t affected, but we may need to send a team to evaluate it.”

Thomas nodded, chewing his bottom lip absently for a moment as he thought. “I’ll let Franklin know know tomorrow -- he’s not gonna be happy about it, but that route is gonna be even more of a pain in the ass if we lose that bridge.”

“Franklin has been more cooperative regarding surface trips since his firearms training,” X6 noted, “despite the fact that his scores have never been above average.”

“Well,” Thomas scoffed, “not everyone is physically capable of getting your kinds of scores, pal.”

“Which is why I am not usually assigned missions that have next to no risk of confrontation.” X6’s head tipped just a little to one side, and that alone asked the question that he wouldn’t ask out loud.

Probably because it would seem like he was questioning the Director’s orders. As much as Thomas insisted that questioning him was a _good_ thing (because hell, he still didn’t know what he was doing half the time), it never really happened. Not outright, anyway. Not in words.

Thomas gave a conceding nod. “Truth is, I got some work done around here today. I just wanted…” He hesitated. It sounded almost childish to say out loud, but it wasn’t like it was _wrong_. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

X6 raised an eyebrow. Even that much was an impressive development from when they had first started traveling together -- even more so that he was willing to do it within the Institute.

“A surprise.”

It was more of a statement than a question. Thomas nodded anyway.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “it’s kinda dumb, but…”

No point in making a bigger deal of it than it needed to be.

Thomas held out the piece of metal wordlessly, and it took a couple of seconds for X6 to take it with a look that was as close as he ever got to confused. It wasn’t any kind of artwork -- the edges still clearly showed that it had been cut from a larger chunk, and Thomas had only managed to bend it into some kind of rough circle before he’d given up.

“Dr. Sanchez says this was part of the...calibrator or something,” Thomas said, resisting the urge to fidget as X6 turned it over in his hands. “I dunno enough about engineering to know if that’s true, but I guess that much isn’t too important.”

X6 looked up. Not for the first time, Thomas was very tempted to take those damn sunglasses off himself, (he knew it wouldn’t be met with any resistance, but he also wasn’t that much of an ass) so he might stand a slightly better chance of reading what little expressions X6 had.

“Calibrator to what?” X6 asked after a moment. His voice was low, and something in it said he already knew the answer.

“The chair,” Thomas told him, “if you could ever call that damn thing a chair to begin with.” He jerked his head in the general direction of the SRB. “Team went in this afternoon as soon as we got the official approval.”

There was the short pause that Thomas equated with an unseen confused blink. “Sir?”

Thomas let his arms swing out to the sides in a vague shrug. “It’s gone, X6.”

X6 closed his hand around the metal, surprisingly gentle for someone who Thomas had seen crush someone’s throat with that same hand. “The Directorate hadn’t --”

“I got approval,” Thomas cut in. “Probably stepped on a few toes to do it, but it worked. Sanchez had my back, she always has, and considering she heads the department anyway, it was a little harder for the others to argue.”

“She removed the reclamation chair?”

Thomas let out a breathy laugh. “That’s putting it lightly. It’s gone. I had it ripped out, broken down for scraps, it’s _gone_. No one can use that damn thing again.” He’d taken a step closer before noticing, still searching X6’s face for something he could recognize. At least he was tall enough that the Coursers didn’t tower over him like they did a lot of the scientists. “The department’s changing. No more wipes. For anyone.”

The silence was almost expectant as X6 stared down at the circle of metal again. Then Thomas found himself being pulled into a tight, nearly bone-cracking hug, and that might have been one of the _last_ things he’d expected to come of this.

It didn’t seem like anything to complain about, though.

X6’s very low, “Thank you,” did make something tighten in Thomas’s chest. He decided to blame it on the possibility of a cracked rib.

There wasn’t any very abrupt and total change among the synths, but change did happen. Something in their posture relaxed a little, and he could hear the occasional burst of laughter from a few that were talking together in the atrium when Thomas walked through. It would keep getting better, but there were literal decades of baggage to get past. Not something that could be rushed.

He could see the changes with X6 even more, simply because they were around each other nearly constantly. The vast majority of the time, the walls stayed up, and the usual stony look stayed firmly in place.

Now, though, the rare times he _did_ let an expression come through, they looked more real and less thought out. The smiles started to increase. The disagreements were given words instead of a very quiet huff of breath. It still all happened more frequently on the surface, as before, but up there, Thomas actually heard him laugh once.

The circle of metal had somehow ended up on a thin chain that hung around X6’s neck, kept tucked under the collar of his coat. If he had picked up the habit of touching it before smiling or arguing or showing traces of individuality, Thomas didn’t think it worth mentioning.

The chair was gone. It was a good reminder to have.

It was good, solid evidence that things were finally changing.


End file.
